1385
Savra, 1385
Balša II, lord of Zeta from 1378, rules from Scutari (Shkodër) and has held Vlorë, Berat and Kaninë through his wife since 1372. By 1385, at his fourth attempt, he has taken Durrës from Karl Thopia, the lord of central Albania, and he styles himself duke of Durazzo. On 8 August 1385 he asks Venice for four galleys against the Ottomans. Thopia calls on Murad for help.
Rozafa Castle above Shkodër, the seat of Balša IIWikimedia Commons, Artemiss.B, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Rozafa Castle Shkodër Albania.jpg)
Çandarlı Hayreddin Pasha leads his troops from the region of Ohrid to the Savra field near Lushnjë. Balša hears of the raid at Durrës. By the account of Mavro Orbini he gathers 1,000 men there and rides out against the advice of his nobles, and on 18 September 1385 he is killed and his head is taken to Hayreddin. Orbini’s history is the main source for the battle and contains many errors.
Thopia takes Durrës back, probably as an Ottoman vassal, and most of the Serbian and Albanian lords of the region accept Ottoman overlordship. The Ottomans take Krujë, Berat and Ulcinj but soon leave them, keeping only Kastoria. Balša’s nephew Đurađ II Balšić succeeds him in Zeta.
A round tower of the walls of DurrësWikimedia Commons, Pudelek, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Castle Tower in Durrës (by Pudelek).JPG)
Sources
- Mavro Orbini, Il regno de gli Slavi (1601).
- John V. A. Fine, The Late Medieval Balkans (1987).
- Alain Ducellier, La façade maritime de l’Albanie au Moyen Âge (1981).
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